Note: Some themes in this chapter talk about topic's that may be sensitive for some readers.
"Are you freaking kidding me?" Georgia LeGume screamed. Gil was holding his sister back in an attempt to keep her from ripping the Fairy Godmother's eyes from her head.
"I'm sorry, Georgia, and to the rest of you, but the team is already full and tryouts aren't until next year. Isn't there any other club you wanted to join?" The Fairy Godmother asked. She seemed to feel truly guilty about this.
"Like what? Glee club?" Uma commented. Uma found it very amusing to think any of her crew to even consider a show choir, or most of the other clubs here. "You won't let us go back to our won ship, you steal away half our crew, and you won't let us join the one club that actually interests us?"
"Those are the rules. I truly am sorry. Only nine people per fencing team," the Fairy Godmother said. "I have been wanting to change the rule for years, but I didn't make them, and I cannot change them either." No one missed the Headmistress' evasion of the other complaints. She was a kind woman, but she feared her government and her king too much to against it. Gil could see it in her eyes, how much it hurt her to avoid their questions about their younger crew members.
"Why can't there be two teams? You took the other half of our crew, so there are nine of us for a team," Uma replied. She shamelessly slid in another comment about her crew in. They were her responsibility, and she wasn't going to back down.
"Uma's right. We can practice on the ship," Georgia exclaimed. "Give us a week, and we will compete against the schools team. We could represent the Isle, Headmistress."
The Fairy Godmother stayed silent for a moment, and studied her students. They looked very passionate about this. They knew they were good at something, and they wanted to prove they were as competent as the children from Auradon.
"It might be a good way to get you more involved here at school. I know Lonnie would love to have another team to spar against. Nothing is guaranteed, but I can see about getting other schools to allow another team to compete in competitions," the Headmistress replied. "I do not mean to be harsh about these rules, but I have to follow the rules, it makes it easier to fight for you kids. The king is not happy about any of you being here. This does not exclude Mal or her other friends, okay?"
Gil nodded. "We understand, Headmistress. Thank you for doing what you can to keep us here."
"Yeah, thanks," Georgia replied, she glared at her brother. He needed to stop being such a diplomatic dipshit. Gil needed to remember his father's roots more than his mother's at times.
"I'm sorry I can't do anymore," the Headmistress said. "I am very proud of how you and Uma thought around this problem, Georgia. I hope to work with you more to make your life here in Auradon easier."
"Good," Georgia huffed, and stormed from the room.
Uma lifted her hand, and the rest of the crew left and followed Georgia out. It left Gil, Harry and Uma standing before the Fairy Godmother. Harry shut the door tightly as the last crew member fled the room.
"We need to talk, Headmistress," Uma darkly said. She planted both her hands stiffly on the Headmistresses desk.
"How may I assist you three?" The genuine nature of her response still baffled the three.
"My sister, CJ, came to me last night in a panic. One of our younger crew members, Thomas Smee, suffers from severe depression," Harry said.
"Normally when he struggles, we deal with it," Gil said. "He'll go to CJ or his other friends, who will then come to us. We can keep him from becoming a danger to himself."
"We take care of our own, Madam Headmistress," Uma growled. "Tommy nearly killed himself last night. If it weren't for CJ taking charge, and running to get us as quickly as possible, we may have been having a very different conversation right now."
In normal circumstances, all three would typically enjoy watching all the blood drain from someone's face. They may not be true villains, but they were pirates. These were not normal circumstances. The Headmistresses face turned sheet white.
"We haven't told the rest of the crew. CJ, her roommate, and Tommy's roommate are the only ones who know outside of us," Uma continued. "We wouldn't want to cause a revolt, and you wouldn't want that either, would you?"
"Normally we can help him before he breaks, as well as any of the other kids with issues that reside under our care," Harry said.
"We need to be there for them, Headmistress, at any time they need us," Gil exhaled.
"Your king has not kept his promises. We have not seen our crew in three weeks. We are the closest thing to family some of them get."
"I had no idea this was happening. Why were no adults told?" The Headmistress gasped.
"They found us. We are the only adults they trust," Harry huffed. He shot the elder woman a look that told her not to question him.
"There needs to be a change," Uma snapped. "We don't want this to get out. I am demanding for the safety of my crew that you allow us to live on our ship. We promise we will still attend all of our classes without fail, and most of the meals. We as well behave students are we can be. You need to remember, though, that we are not the Rotten Four that came here first. They could easily adapt to most things and only had each other." Uma flinched as she said it, remembering Evie's relationship with Gil, and how Gil would receive packages and letters to give to Evie's daughter and lover. "We have a responsibility to our crew. In some cases, we are the only family these kids have ever known. They need us to be there for them until they decide they can handle this on their own."
"Please, Ma'am, they need us to be there for them," Gil said.
"We beg you to allow us this," Harry pleaded. "We will do whatever it is for you to let us do this. Whatever necessary measures you think you need to take, we will do if you make this possible."
The Fairy Godmother saw the sadness in the three young pirates' eyes. She could feel the desperation coming off in waves from them as well.
"I'm not thrilled with this, but I will allow you this. Do you truly think this will make this transition easier on all of you?" She waited for the nods from her students. "Do not make me this regret this."
"Thank you, Madam," Gil responded as his friends made to leave the room. "I promise you will not regret this decision."
Even though, Gil thought, you most likely will.
They found the rest of the crew crowded in the hall around the corner from the Headmistresses office.
"Get packed. We are going home to the ship," Uma barked. There was a loud cheer as the remaining six crew members ran to pack their few belongings.
"What happened, scum?" Chad Charming sneered as he saw some of the Isle kids dragging bags or trunks through the hall of the dormitory. "Did you already lose your chance here?"
"I'm surprised they even lasted this long," Audrey tagged on.
A few of the crew tensed, Harry included. Audrey was not the brightest, nor was Chad. Harry had no qualms against docking a prince. Hell, he did it on a regular basis. Said prince was his lover, so he wasn't sure if it counted.
"Shut up, Audrey," Margaret called out from the top of the stairs. She was helping Georgia move back to the ship. Eugenia was sharing a room with Katherine, so Uma was placed in Margaret's room because she had an extra bed. "They are simply moving to their ship. It was one of the terms of their agreement to come to school here. It's being upheld."
"Pity," Audrey spat, and walked away.
"They are letting these delinquents out on their own in our country?" Chad exclaimed in anger. "I think my father will certainly have something to about this at the next council meeting."
"Really, Chad? You would have your father ask mine to break a promise to his own people?" Ben demanded. Harry kept looking around to try and find where all these royals were coming from.
"Maybe my father will knock some sense into the King," Chad said.
"Oh, please Chad. Your father has not taken you seriously since the scene you made with Evie at Family Day," Lonnie scoffed. "Now, let our classmates through, and stop being a jerk. How are we ever going shape the future if we keep judging people based on the past?"
"You are siding with them?" He hissed. "You are supposed to be with Auradon."
"I am with Auradon, Chad. Auradon includes the Isle, or have you forgotten?" Ben responded.
Chad left the hall.
"Here, I'll help move you back into your ship," Lonnie offered, and helped Georgia with one of her bags.
"I will as well," Ben seconded.
"Um, sure," Harry replied, and warily let the others and himself accept the help that these Princes and Princesses were giving them. The only royalty he knew were Gil and Evie. One was a pirate and an ex-addict who was prone to violence and the manipulation of others. The other was a cunning and manipulative teen mother whose next moves were always unpredictable. Kindness from royalty was not his forte of knowing what to do.
It was extremely nice to be back in his cabin once they had moved back in. After Uma had conned the ship out of his father he had basically lived there. No it wasn't the Jolly Roger, it was one his father had taken control of after he had been shoved there. The Isle itself was an old abandoned port with forgotten ships and sunken barges. Harry was never sure if his father was angry about Uma getting one of his many ships, or glad he didn't have to stake his claim for it any longer. But Uma's ship was home. It smelled like the ocean, and the boy he woke up to every morning was not all too terrible either.
Evie began making regular appearances on the ship once they had settled in. Gil didn't seem to mind, and it surprised some of the crew how close the two seemed. Talk of the school was Doug and Evie were an item. Harry was not entirely sure if the two were dating. Part of the confusion lied with knowing Gil's brother Ritchie was in love with Evie and it was reciprocated. Gossip ran rampant in Auradon, so it wasn't long before people were saying Evie was cheating on Doug with Gil, with only further confused Harry because he knew Evie technically was cheating on Ritchie, and Gil was with Harry, and not Evie. The whole thing was a mess, and Harry sometimes really hated the blue haired she-devil.
And through all of this, Georgia, Gil's younger sister, was being an absolute menace.
"I know you can fight better than this, Harry! Give it your all!" the teenaged daughter of Gaston shouted in his face. He was beginning to wonder if this whole fencing team idea was a good one.
"Then you come and fight me, bitch!" he finally screamed, and turned on her instead of Gil, and launched himself at her. She parried his strike, and moved to disarm him.
"That's more like it, Hook. Do it again." Then it was on. He continued to battle the girl until she managed to get a swipe up his cheek and disarmed him.
"Georgia," Gil groaned from where he had been watching the battle. Gil was not the best with swordplay. His crossbow and his knives were where he strived when it came to weapons, and he was even better with magic as of late.
"Yeah, yeah, don't kill the boy-toy. I got it," she replied. "Ready to go again?"
"It's on, LeGume," he growled and made for her again. It was more steam than he had let off since they had left the Isle.
"Harry, how did you get that cut on your cheek?" Lonnie asked the next morning at breakfast. The girl had made friends with Uma and would spend a meal or two with Uma, Gil and himself.
"Sparring with Georgia last night. The lass is an absolute nightmare, and want to kick your asses more than anything this weekend," Harry responded. "She got in one good swipe, and she's better than me. Didn't manage to get her back."
"It's a shame really," Uma replied. "Georgia could use a few lessons in humility."
"Hey, that is my sister," Gil shot in.
Lonnie looked perplexed. "If you were just sparring, how did she manage to cut you?"
"What do ya mean?" Harry asked though a mouthful of food.
"You don't use real swords, do you?"
"'Course we do? You telling me you don't?" Harry was starting to get really confused by these high class customs.
"Of course not! Not in Auradon at least. My parents taught me with real swords, but we would never have a friendly spar at school with them."
"What do you use for matches then?" Gil asked. Now he was as intrigued as Harry.
"Foils. Have you ever used them?" Lonnie stared for a moment. "What am I asking for?"
"Lonnie, do you think we could borrow a few from you? We want to be really ready for this weekend. Practicing with what the other team is using may be very insightful," Uma sweetly requested of the young Asian princess.
"Sure! Find me after classes today. I'll have a few spares ready for you."
Harry was extremely glad they did manage to practice the rest of the week with the wimpy false swords. The referee for the match wouldn't let them use real ones.
He took great joy in the Auradon Prep versus the Isle match. Harry was matched up with Chad Charming, whose parents happened to be in the crowd, cheering on their son. Chad was over confident, and it made him very poor at any sport he attempted. Harry gained much pleasure and amusement from slaughtering the boy in the match. Figuratively, he didn't want to be sent back to his father. There was nothing that would make him do something so rash to send him back to his father. They won the match. It was a given, and they would become a real team to compete against other schools.
Everything seemed to work itself out that week. One month on the mainland, and nothing had blown itself out of the water yet.
He had also spoken too soon. Sometimes he really hated some of the things Gil had managed to involve himself in.